Gruen Watch Mfg. Co.

D. Gruen & Son started in Columbus, OH in 1894, importing movements from Germany, and later, Switzerland. The company went under a succession of names, one of which was the Gruen Watch Mfg. Co.. As a top tier supplier, Gruen produced a line of fine watches, continuing in its original form into the post-WWII era, until 1958.

Gruen: A Thumbnail Description

Dietrich Gruen learned the watch trade as a partner in Gruen & Savage, which grew into the Columbus Watch Co. Gruen served as president of that company until 1894. At that time he formed D. Gruen & Son, in Columbus, OH, the same city in which the Columbus Watch Co. was located. The first watches were (standard American) 18-size movements, built by Assmann in Germany. 16-size movements followed shortly. By 1904, production was moved to Madretsch, Switzerland. The company went through several name changes (for a list, refer to Paul Schliessser's website, noted in the references below). For convenience, it will be referred to here as just Gruen.

The following is quoted from The Jewelers Circular - Weekly and Horological Review, February 28, 1900, pp. 33-4 (Note - The D., L. & W. is the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western):

Letters To The EditorWATCHES OF D., L. & W. RAILROAD EMPLOYES
Cincinnati, O. Feb. 12Editor The Jewelers Circular - Weekly:
In your Consolidation number, page 48, you mention the D., L. & W. inspection rules. We wish to kindly inform you there is a very grave error in where you state or any standard Swiss movement of 22 jewels or more will be acceptable to the company. You no doubt have been misinformed, and I herewith give you the exact words of letter written in answer to an inquiry by us of J. W. Forsinger, the chief inspector. Would like very much to have you state the matter correctly in your next issue in justice to the various Swiss watch interests and also set the matter before the public correctly, for we have had quite a few inquiries from dealers in view of it. With greetings we remain yours truly,
D. Gruen & Sons.

Mr. Forsingers letter enclosed is reprinted below:

Chicago, Ill, Feb. 7, 1900

Messrs. D. Gruen & Sons, Cincinnati, O.:
Dear Sirs:-I am unable to fathom where you saw that only 22 jewels Swiss watches would pass. Our book of instructions mentions that the highest grades of Swiss will pass on any road and it is understood that all Swiss movements of the higher qualities will pass. Both your grades which I have in stock will pass on any road that I have, provided no dealers name is specially engraved on it. I have no copy of the rules you mention at present, but will gladly furnish any further information you may desire.
Yours truly,
(Signed): J.W. Forsinger

Its believed that Gruen was importing watches from Assmann of Dresden until 1904 when they switched over to Swiss watches. Either everybody just lumped Dresden production in with the Swiss, or Gruen had started moving production to Switzerland earlier than previously thought - and the watches Forsinger referred to may have been the Swiss-Gruen grades Nos. 52 and 56.

Priceless Possession of a Few, The, Supplement (#10) to the Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Eugene Fuller, NAWCC, Columbia, PA, 1974, available online to NAWCC members who are logged in.

Gibbs Literary AwardNAWCC FellowNAWCC Member

I would like to make updates to this GRuen page. Attempted to contact Kent, but private messages didn't go through.

One question I have is on the "References" section. On one hand, it looks like a list of source materials used in the Wiki page/article, on the other hand it appears to have a little more than just the stuff used as source material.

The question I have is, would it be OK to consider this "References" section as a place to put "Reference Information"? In other words, places to go, things to read, resources that are reference material for people wishing to learn more. In the past 6 or 7 years alone, sites have sprung up that are dedicated to Gruen, articles published (one this month, Nov 2015, in the Bulletin), and books published (one this month also). Gruen is starting to beginning to get some traction in the collecting community as more information, reference material, and a places for Gruen fans to congregate.

I think this page could be considerably expanded and would be happy to do some of that work, but want to get permission from Kent in case he needs to approve the changes or make them himself.

Hmmmm.... I see this comment above Moving material to the NAWCC Message Board

And wonder if there is a different location I should be working... but I also see that the address of this page begins with mb.nawcc.org so perhaps that move has taken place and this is all that it meant.

Regardless, I'm going to continue to add the resources that I have found, written, or posted.

I saw that the page was referenced in a post on the board only yesterday by one of the Moderators, Jim Haney, so I am assuming this is a live, and actively used page.

Gibbs Literary AwardNAWCC FellowNAWCC Member

I only just now saw your posts, I'm sorry that it took so long. Normally, you can email to me by clicking on my name at the top of any of my posts and, when my profile opens, choosing "@ Send email", just below my picture. The NAWCC will route your email to me.

This article badly needs to expanded and I'm glad that you're stepping up to do so. I don't need to approve any changes; either to this article, or any others. You just have to be an NAWCC member to do so (if you're not a member - contact me and we can discuss how I might help). If you do choose to make an addition or change, I hope that you will either back up any assertions with sources, or clearly note that they are opinions. Also, please be sure to briefly note the changes in the "Reason for Editing:" field at the bottom of the edit screen.

As far as the "References" section goes, I've always used this as a place to link to additional items/pictures/locations/etc. for additional information on the subject of the Encyclopedia articles. There's no reason you can't add to it.

I'll try to contact you and let you know that I've responded to your posts.

Gibbs Literary AwardNAWCC FellowNAWCC Member

I for got to mention that posts that state "Moving material refer to an old situation.

Originally, the NAWCC Message Board did not host images and it was recommended to put them up on such sites as flickr and other free image hosting sites. As time went on, it was decided to host images on the NAWCC Message Board and, due to broken links from images hosted elsewhere being dropped (these sites had a limit and when exceeded, older images were dropped) or discontinued, the recommendation was to post the images on the Message Board.

Little by little, I went through the process of going through the encyclopedia articles and posting (on the Message Board) any images that I had originally posted elsewhere. Since some text is required to post, I noted that the images were being 'moved' (from the unstated 'elsewhere').

The NAWCC is dedicated to providing association services, promoting interest in and encouraging the collecting of clocks and watches.
The NAWCC exists to advance Horology, which is the art and science of timekeeping.